The smoking must go on! Even though our beloved Franklin Barbecue sustained major damage from a fire, the people behind everyone’s favorite joint are pulling together for others in need. Don’t miss this chance to support our neighbors in the Gulf Coast region with some of the best food on the planet.

Investing in a new restaurant concept probably sounds like something only rich people do, but we’re living in the golden age of crowdfunding, so we can all get in on the ground floor of something big. Eight years ago, the founders of Peli Peli teamed up to bring South African fusion cuisine to Houston. From their initial start in Vintage Park, the team of Executive Chef Paul Friedman, Michael Tran, and Thomas Nguyen have now expanded to three locations throughout the metro area. Both Tran (BS ’99) and Nguyen (BA ’98, JD ’01) are UT Austin grads, so when it came time to expand beyond their home in Houston, they set their sights on ATX.

Plans are for Peli Peli Austin to take over a space in the downtown 2nd Street District and open its doors in September of 2017. The team now has an active expansion campaign on the NextSeed platform where the community can uncover more specifics on the business, team members, and follow up on updates about the restaurant.

To fuel its growth, Peli Peli had resounding success with a campaign in May 2016, raising $358,000 for its Houston Galleria location on NextSeed’s platform in Texas. The funds allowed the restaurant group to increase its working capital and invest in its infrastructure. In just eleven months, the team paid their investors back—well ahead of schedule—returning $409,513 to the members who invested.

Since its launch in 2015, NextSeed has facilitated over $4 million in crowdfunded investments in restaurants, bars, and other local businesses in Texas and around the U.S. using state and federal crowdfunding rules. For as little as $100, investors can invest in a project or concept that they feel passionate about—supporting local by investing local.

NextSeed provides the investor with an overview of each campaign, a detailed description of the business model and leadership team, market analysis, all of the investment details, and the opportunity to ask questions in a virtual community forum.

NextSeed was the first SEC-registered regulation crowdfunding platform in the country and is now operating from coast to coast.

To learn more about opportunities like Peli Peli, all the active as well as fully funded campaigns nationwide, visit NextSeed.

Any views expressed in this article reflect the personal views of the author only for discussion purposes and should not be viewed as investment advice or recommendation, and does not constitute any legal or tax advice with respect to any securities. Rendering of Peli Peli Austin dining room. Courtesy of NextSeed Rendering of Poitin interior. Courtesy of NextSeed Rendering of Poitin interior bar area. Courtesy of NextSeed.

People of the North: Rejoice! The owners of Home Slice Pizza are revealing the details of their much-anticipated expansion to North Austin. The new location will be in the North Loop area (which we are now apparently calling “NOLO”) near the corner of North Loop and Duval at 501 E 53rd Street. It’s currently under construction and slated for a late fall 2017 opening.

The new restaurant will have full-service dine-in, take out, patio seating, and indoor and outdoor bar seating, plus twice the parking of the South Congress store! They’ll also have a full bar in addition to all the draft beer and wine—because cocktails and pizza are soulmates.

“Our cocktail list will focus on simple, delicious drinks that have stood the test of time,” said Nano Whitman, partner and director of operations at the NOLO location, in a press release. That sounds good to us, Nano.

And more welcome news: Home Slice NOLO will have Buffalo wings! “Buffalo wings are part of almost every pizzeria experience where I grew up,” said Scoville Strickland, who hails from a small town near Buffalo, New York. “We are looking forward to turning Austin on to this regional delicacy done right!”

Lastly: The NOLO location will have the specialty Sicilian square pie seven days a week. Currently available at the South Congress location only on Mondays and Thursdays because of the space it takes to produce the specialty pies, this sheet pan pizza took years to develop and requires an entirely separate production process from Home Slice’s typical New York-style dough.

We’ll update you on a grand opening date ASAP, but the fall can’t come soon enough.

PDQ (aka “People Dedicated to Quality”) the award-winning restaurant with two locations in Austin and many many devotees, has just announced a bunch of new menu items that have us counting down the minutes to an acceptable lunchtime.

Fans of the restaurant know that the food is ready fast, but that’s where the comparisons to “fast food” end. The new dishes were created by PDQ Executive Chef Michael Brannock and Chef Bryce Bonsack, and include seasonal bowls like the Thai Peanut and Smokehouse BBQ with hand-fried pickles, and premium chicken sandwiches like the Southern Pimento Crunch and Grilled Hawaiian. There are also four new salads, including a healthy Garden Citrus salad and a new Kale Caesar, with shaved brussels sprouts and shaved Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheeses.

They’re also rolling out unique sides like roasted garlic broccoli, oven-roasted sweet potatoes with marshmallow fluff and pecans, and hand-breaded fresh zucchini fries. Nearly everything on the menu features PDQ’s 14 homemade sauces and dressings, all made from scratch in-house every day.

PDQ is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week and each location has dine-in, take-out, drive-thru, and event catering. Ok, that’s enough talk about food, we’re off to eat some zucchini fries …

This is exactly the kind of thing that Austin does best: a day of great food, drinks, and music. If you’re a foodie—and who isn’t these days?—come spend the day at The Domain and see what the various restaurants at the shopping mecca have to offer. The 10th Annual Taste of North Austin is an all-day family food festival that will feature delectable tastes, beverage sampling, free live music, children’s entertainment, and lots of fabulous shopping. Guests who want to go all-out for the VIP experience will get a goody bag, complimentary drinks, and access to the swanky VIP lounge.

Balloon twisters, caricature artists, and crafts will be on hand for the kids.

When: Saturday, June 10th

Time: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Cost: Live music and children’s entertainment are free. Wristbands are $20 and include 10 tastes. The VIP experience is an additional $15. Beer and wine will be available for purchase at select restaurant booths.

Location:
Domain II
3225 Amy Donovan Plaza
Austin, TX 78758

Call 512-873-8099 or click here for more information. For the latest deals, contests, and event information at The Domain, click here.

You may have been thinking the last thing Austin needs is another food festival, but you would be wrong—oh so wrong—to think that. Because the Hot Luck Festival isn’t just another festival, it’s the brainchild of barbecue hero Aaron Franklin, Mohawk owner James Moody, and Mike Thelin, the cofounder of Feast Portland. As the press release says, “together they have curated a Texas-sized get-together featuring world-class culinary talent and a true Austin live music experience.”

Here’s the concept, in a nutshell:

Hot Luck is a chef-driven, celebration of fire, food, music, and camaraderie. An a la carte eat-with-your-fingers picnic and party experience that highlights open-pit feats of culinary know how, and music in your ears that is as thoughtfully created as the food on your plate. Come hungry, thirsty, and bring your dancin’ boots.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it: Crawl out of bed and get yourself over to Irene’s. They have everything you need to feel good again on this dreary Sunday morning. It’s the Biscuits and Booze Brunch! DJ Emily Rabbit will be spinning rocksteady, dub, and rare grooves on the patio from noon to 4 p.m.

Tonight the McGuire Moorman Hospitality’s Beverage Director and Master Sommelier, June Rodil, will host two special events with Chappellet Winery’s Master Sommelier Jay James. Chappellet’sPrichard Hill is located in Napa Valley and was one of the founding family’s there in 1967. They knew they found something special and quickly trademarked the name Prichard Hill.

HAPPY HOUR

Beginning at 4 p.m. at June’s All Day they will host a Happy Hour to taste Chappellet’s Signature wines paired with light bites on the marble such as Salt Cod Croquettes and Fried Baby Eggplant. Guests can purchase $35 tickets here.

5-COURSE DINNER

Later in the evening from 7-9 p.m., guests can reserve a table for a five-course dinner and pairings at Jeffrey’s. $175 tickets may be purchased here and the menu includes items such as Mixed Chicory Salad with Apples and Walnuts with Chappellet Chardonnay, 2014 and Roasted Quail with Confit Leg and Braised Greens paired with Chappellet Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir, 2014.

Ok, ordinarily we would never say this but, forget the breakfast tacos. You’ll want to save all your calories for this today. Seriously, this one meal is all you could ever want or need …

Hopdoddy is celebrating their one-year anniversary in Round Rock by bringing back the popular CODE 7 Burger in limited-quantity and today is the last day to get one! The CODE 7 burger is named after the code cops use for a coffee and donut run and it’s made with possibly the best thing in the whole wide world: Round Rock Donuts!

So you’re trying to be healthy this year? That doesn’t mean you can’t happy hour. Picnik just launched their happy hour and this needs to be on your radar!

Thanks to an upgraded bar, patrons of Picnik can now enjoy a tasty cocktail like the Berry Basil Smash or the Pitaya Margarita with their guilt-free meal. Made only with natural, gluten-free ingredients, these cocktails offer a tasty, healthier way to toast to the new year.